Native Instruments Kontakt 3

Now in its third incarnation, KONTAKT 3 builds on its reputation as the industry standard for professional sampling. The outstanding audio engine and state-of-the-art modular architecture provide unlimited sonic potential for your music. Universal file import ensures global compatibility. A huge sound collection connects you to a multitude of instruments, and the reworked interface makes playing and tweaking them effortless. KONTAKT 3 is the premiere sampler for artists and producers from across the musical spectrum Support Windows XP (SP 2) or Vista (32 bit)
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Price: $99.95

The jump from Kontakt version 1 to version 2 brought a huge number of improvements to all areas of Native Instruments’ software sampler. Amongst the enhancements were a more attractive cosmetic appearance, easier modulation routing, more flexible effects routing, a variety of new effects including a convolution reverb, a searchable database, instrument banks, universal file import and the KSP script engine, to name just a few highlights. To fully appreciate the differences, it’s worth catching up with the reviews of Kontakt 1 and Kontakt 2 in the August 2002 and July 2005 issues of SOS. The increment to Kontakt 3, whilst not being quite as all-encompassing as the last major integer change, brings some perhaps less dramatic but nonetheless beneficial improvements over Kontakt 2. Included in the roster of changes are numerous workflow enhancements, a substantially reworked and turbo-charged waveform editor, an improved mapping editor, a speedier and more elegant database, some new effects, another cosmetic makeover and a generous 33GB sound library that spans five DVDs.

Although part of the K3 library duplicates that of K2 (principally the excellent VSL Orchestra collection), if you have K2 and if you have plenty of spare disk space, it’s worth retaining the entire K2 library alongside it. The difference is ‘only’ around 7GB (I can’t help but smile wryly as I type that!). While K2 instruments will load into K3, K3 instruments are not backward compatible, so if you delete the K2 duplicates but wanted to return to using K2 for whatever reason, the K3 library instruments would be unusable in that version.

The 33GB K3 library consists of around 1000 instruments organised into six categories; although space restrictions make it impossible to describe the instruments in detail, an overview of each category below gives an idea of what to expect. All instruments in the library make use of Performance Views, the extended ’skinned’ panels below each instrument that contains a set of appropriate performance controls. These controls can affect anything from cutoff frequency and resonance, to effects parameters, keyswitchable articulations, legato and hammer-ons, harmonising and more. All Performance View parameters can be automated simply by dragging controllers onto them from the Browser’s Auto pane.
Band: everything you need for a virtual band line-up, including the constituent parts of a horn section, acoustic and electric pianos, loads of organ registrations sampled from a real Hammond, guitars, basses and drum kits.
Orchestral: extracts from the famous VSL library, pianos, pipe organ, harpsichord and orchestral percussion. This is an almost identical collection to that supplied with Kontakt 2, but with some variations — and, of course, the Performance Views offer enhanced playability.
Synth: an eclectic range of electronica, but not just the usual pads, leads and basses. Well, they’re here, but you also get a diverse range of musical automata, including arpeggiators, mini-sequencers and synth-style drum beatboxes that make extensive use of KSP Scripts. These come ready loaded with groovy patterns and beats, but they can all be reprogrammed to do as you wish.
Urban Beats: rather like the beatboxes of the synth category, these groove generators offer complete drum-based backdrops in a distinctly hip-hop/R&B flavour. Each instrument also includes a fully playable kit of parts with detailed control over each sound’s effects, levels and articulations. The groove loops have their own level and effects controls and are also reprogrammable, making each Urban instrument a very flexible toy, and fun into the bargain.
Vintage: ranging from classically trendy to shamelessly camp, this category features raw, unprocessed samples from a variety of vintage battleaxes. Some are respected household names (Minimoog, Memorymoog, Mini Korg 700, Logan String Melody II, RMI Electrapiano, Crumar Orchestrator, Linndrum, TR808 and 909) whilst others are less familiar, even humorous choices. The Electronic Toys folder, for instance, includes a variety of Casio Rapman sounds, Suzuki Tronichord, Yamaha Handy Sound, Mattel Bee Gees rhythm machine, a Casio SK1 drum kit and even a complete story told by a ‘Droopy The Dragon’ speech synthesis toy!
World: it may not scale the same heady heights as Quantum Leap’s RA virtual instrument, but K3’s collection of World instruments delivers an impressive range of flavours from around the globe. Flutes, recorders, reeds, metallophones, stringed instruments, accordions and percussion make up the menu. My personal favourites are the bagpipes, including Uilleann and Highland versions, complete with drones and chanters.

A PDF manual for the library installs with K3, providing detailed descriptions of every instrument and full instructions on how their Performance Views work. It should be noted that the Performance Views were made using Kontakt’s KSP Script engine, which means that the creation of customised Performance Views is reserved for those souls adventurous enough to learn KSP Scripting. I had hoped that NI would make this process as easy as drag’n'drop, but alas no; something perhaps for the future. Oh, and be warned that some of these library instruments can be quite CPU-hungry!

NoteFlight – Music notation software
Issuu – Make beautiful online publications in a snap from powerpoint presentations
Ricci Adams’ – Music theory tutorials and lessons
Sound Cloud – online music file sharing and drop boxes
Chord Calculator
Morton Subotnick’s – Creating Music
Scale Finder
Classics for Kids – free online music examples, lesson plans and handouts
Myna – the first web 2.0 software that seems based on GarageBand. Not quite there yet but interesting. I hope they keep working on it.
Avery – the makers of Myna above and several other helpful apps.
Wufoo – Wufoo is an online HTML form builder that helps you create contact forms, web surveys and invitations so you can collect information, registrations and payments without writing a single line of code.
Dipity - Make extremely cool online timelines, very eloquent.
New York Philharmonic – Kids Zone
The Sound Lounge by PBS
ClassTools – great collection of online software designed for the elementry classroom
Vimeo – post your video
PBS.org
PBS play the Gamelan
Kompoz – compose with your friends and colleagues online
Hobnox – audio tool
Online Metronome
Animoto
-Turn your photos & videos into pure amazing. Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy.
VuVox – Make creations online
* Use COLLAGE to quickly produce dynamic interactive panoramas with hot-spots.
* Use STUDIO to build a personalized media presentation… and, place it in your COLLAGE.
* Use EXPRESS to build presentations with dynamic content from RSS feeds and online albums.
* Tap into CUT-OUT Express to use your photos as frames for slideshows.
San Francisco Kids
Weebly -
What can I do with Weebly?
* Create a free website & blog
* Easy drag and drop interface
* No technical skills required
* Dozens of professional designs
* Free domain hosting

And be sure to check out a wonderful blog @ Free Tech for Teachers

Shure SM58 - Classic Studio Mic - http://images.thomann.de/pics/prod/105769.jpg

Everyone has had the experience of listening to themselves speaking and thought “that isn’t me!” Getting the sound you actually do recognize is an equally unfamiliar task when you first begin. The first step, obviously, is the hardware you need: a microphone (this author recommends very highly the Shure microphone portfolio of products), cables, and a stand. But what about the actual recording itself? What does you have to do to that sound you want (like when you sing in the shower or car)? Well, below are my ABCs of vocal recording:

Amplification – Most people don’t realize it until they try, but the human voice simply isn’t strong enough to compete with some like a drum set or electric guitar. The human voice needs amplification if you are to hear all the rich textures and nuances your vocalist has to offer. Most sound cards worth their salt come with Pre-Amps built in, like the Digidesign MBox, but for those that don’t you’ll have to buy an external one to place between your mic and sound card.

Balance – Audio balance is a tricky thing and applies in a couple different ways. Shure makes an SM58 microphone intended to only pick up sound within a certain area around the mic. This is excellent for live recording with many vocalists, and instruments, recording in the same space. For solo recording, however, you may want to pick up everything in the booth. In this case you’ll need to worry about balance between the voice and reverb, or any other noise in the space. The vocalist cannot be to close or to far, and the room padding shouldn’t be too absorbent or reflective. What you’ll need is balance between these elements for an authentic sounding vocal.

Compression – Possibly the most important and most difficult to manage is the problem of compression. Compression levels out the sound of the voice so that the strong part don’t hurt the listeners ear, and the soft parts can be heard. ProTools, and other production software alternatives, come with software compression built in. This requires less hardware to use but can be constricting. IZotope offers many plugins for ProTools to give you a wide variety of real-time software compression alternatives, but some still find buying a hardware compressor to be more useful. I’ve always just used the software and found it to be great.

So how does the SM58 stack up against the ABC’s of vocal recording? In my opinion it gets five starts in each category. The SM58 gives you clean sound that is free from outside noise and easily smoothed out with compressed amplification. This little mic retails for about $100 and is a must have for any home studio.

Example of Non-Keyboard Sampler. Source: http://www.vintagesynth.com/akai/mpc2000xl.jpg

To many music purists, this post is going to seem like heresy, but sampling, whether you agree with it or not, has become one of the most popular ways to make catchy music. Most often associated with early Rap and Hip-Hop, sampling is often also used in Techno, House, and other musical forms. A good sample can be a great foundation upon which to build an innovative musical work.

How does one go about obtaining samples, and how can one use them effectively? In my own studio I use a Korg small studio keyboard, which has an optional sampler that I can plug in. The Keyboard interface for the sample is nice because I can then use the pitch bender and other adjustable knobs on the keyboard to manipulate the sample as I play. Keyboards aren’t the only way to use samples, however, many pieces of hardware exist that allow you to treat samples the way you treat a percussion instrument, which make for more rhythmically innovative uses of samples.

For those that don’t want to buy new hardware but want to use samples, a software solution is also available. Many times I’ve ‘cheated’ my way into samples by simply recording the sound byte I want from the internet into a ProTools session. From there I can then chop, repeated, pitch bend, stretch, and otherwise have precise control over what I do with the sample.

It may seem like kid’s stuff to those who insist every piece of music be derived from a ‘real’ musical performance, but non-trivial music innovations are possible with samples. Submitted for your approval is a small piece I put together in a single day using a Yo-Yo Ma sample I love. Listen and then respond with your own thoughts by taking the poll.

Ecstasy of Gold – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Soundtrack [Remix]

*Fair warning, the song goes from 0-60 in about 1 second about a third of the way through, so adjust your volume accordingly.

10. Computer  – It seems obvious but until recently there were still some die-hards producing music without the ‘impurity’ digitizing. In the last several years, however, the processing power of consumer PCs has made tremendous production capability possible at a price point most can afford. The latest generation software and hardware available for ammeter music producers is not only affordable but compatible with most home computers.

9. Sound Card – Regardless of what your creating your music on (piano, vocals, electric guitar, etc) your going to need a good sound card to get everything into digital format. There are many alternatives if you’re building a studio from scratch but for the less brave there are software/hardware bundles (such as ProTool and MBox) that give you everything you need.

8. Cables – Many enthusiasts debate over whether or not one needs to pay the market for Monster Cable, but for those who are more price sensitive there are affordable quarter inch cables available that will get the job done.

7. Audio Monitors – The sky is the limit with speakers, but fortunately many retails offer solutions at a wide range of price points (for example Rokit has a size and quality monitor option for just about every price).

6. Software – Many free music production software alternatives exist – Reason, Logic, etc, but in my experience and the experience of many professional colleagues, ProTools is still the definitive software for music production. Period.

5. Pre-Amp – This becomes extremely important for vocal recording. Often a microphone recording simply doesn’t have the output to compete with powered instruments (like an electric guitar). Amplification of the vocal within the recording path will enhance and warm any vocal performance.

4. Compressor – From bass guitars to vocals just about everything needs a little compressing from time to time to warm the sound and prevent variability in the volume level of the performance form damaging speakers (and ears).

3. Microphone – As with ProTools for software, there is only one brand that stands out in microphone technology. Sure microphone is known worldwide for their superior performance and sound quality. Every price point and benefit imaginable is addressed by at least Sure product. Start out with a $100 mic and work your way up according to your needs.

2. Devoted Friends – As with any hobby, your music will need a second (and third) opinion, over and over again. Each time you remaster tracks you’ll need another set of ears to keep you grounded. That means asking other to listen over and over again to new versions of the same song. Treat them to a beer every now and again to show your appreciation.

1. Time – As an ammeter, it WILL take you time to figure all this stuff out. Radio quality recording in one’s basement isn’t easy, it must be a labor of love you’re willing to make time for.

Transcribe is an interesting software that really helps if you are trying to notate music from a music file.

The Transcribe! application is an assistant for people who sometimes want to work out a piece of music from a recording, in order to write it out, or play it themselves, or both. It doesn’t do the transcribing for you, but it is essentially a specialised player program which is optimised for the purpose of transcription. It has many transcription-specific features not found on conventional music players.

It is also used by many people for play-along practice. It can change pitch and speed instantly, and you can store and recall any number of named loops.

And it is also used for speech transcription. With its support for foot pedals and its superior slowed-down sound quality, it is an excellent choice for this purpose. There is some advice about this in Transcribe!’s help, under the heading “Various Topics”. READ MORE HERE

Edirol has been making the R-09 for a while and has now upgraded it to include some great new features in order to make it more competitive.

The R09HR is equipped with an ‘Isolated Adaptive Recording Circuit’, which provides stable, separate power supplies to the analogue limiter and the A-D converter, to tackle the problem of DC interference. The perennial problem of handling noise has also been tackled by coating the plastic body with a rubberised skin, which also serves to provide a better grip. Check out the rest of a review by Sound On Sound HERE.

Welcome to Young Composers!

Here is the beginning blurb from their site. Worth checking out.

Young Composers is a place where composers and musicians of all ages can communicate, share, and collaborate with others on the subjects of music, composition, performance and repertoire. This site is home to many people of different experiences and styles, and is an excellent resource for all musicians. After registering, you will be able to converse with musicians of all types and ages in the forum. You may also make use of the wiki system to create a profile showcasing you and your works, or just write about something that you are particularly knowledgeable about. Furthermore, we have an Online Music Store that sells sheet music, notation software, sequencers, music samples and more. Go HERE for the REST

Morton Subotnick’s Creating Music

Music Elementary teachers should check out this wonderful online site of Web 2.0 software. Fun for young composers, high on creativity and the students love it.

Creatingmusic.com is a children’s online creative music environment for children of all ages. It’s a
place for kids to compose music, play with musical performance, music games and music puzzles.
Come discover fun and easy ways to make music!

That is, there don’t seem to BE any.

There are several quite good trackers available, such as Psycle, Buzz, Buzé (a Buzz variant), Milky Tracker, Impulse Tracker, and the like. Similarly, there are the sublimely powerful yet supremely difficult to use Pure Data, jMAX, CSound, and Supercollider.

But for normal human beings, trackers and programming environments aren’t really an option. The others that typically get listed (Temper, Cockos REAPER, Pro Tools Free) are either not genuinely free (Temper and REAPER are shareware/trialware), or ancient discontinued versions of a current commercial piece of software.

Then there is MU.LAB Free, the crippled version of MU.LAB’s full version. In my estimation, this is the best option as far as something that’s truly freeware – but of course, it only allows 8 tracks, and they want you to buy their full version.

KRISTAL is a decent enough multitracking audio host, but it doesn’t do MIDI.

Linux has some decent options, such as LMMS, Ardour, MUSE, and Rosegarden. (I think one of those doesn’et do MIDI or something, but I don’t remember which). But I want to know why there doesn’t seem to be any real free or open source Windows software package for a budding electronic musician. If we have a collection of free video editing packages available for Windows (even if they all, in my opinion, suck), why not for the audio end of things too?

Well, but then, we do have free strictly audio editors, like Audacity, Wavosaur, and the above-mentioned KRISTAL. But I’m looking for something that can be used for really generating sounds and sequencing samples.

WAIT, apparently LMMS has a Windows version? I should give this a try. And then, there’s also DarkWave Studio. I shall investigate, and report back.

I just purchased the Beatles Rock Band and an Xbox 360 for my music classroom. I am hoping it is everything I have read. If you are using it I would love to hear your views on it’s educational capabilities for music.

I also found this great site online all about the software Beatles Rock Band

MacHeist is giving away 6 great Mac applications for free. Check IT OUT!

Key or Grey
“As the technical barriers of creating music are lowered, what was once only the domain of technical wizards has become accessible to everyone, everywhere, at anytime. With the abundance of new computer software that makes music easy and fun to create, a whole new group of enthusiasts is able to do in minutes what would have taken an expert days to do only a few years ago. “Key of Grey” is a resource for new songwriters and producers who want to learn how to produce a quality product with a minimum of technical jargon.”

Thank-you Audio Tuts! They have produced an extremely good collection of helpful music sites that musicians and music educators can use to teach and learn music. There are some familiar sites listed and some new ones that offer a variety of information.

Serious Sounds, Tutorials and information on MIDI sequencing, arrangement, sample use, soundfonts, using DAWs and VST/VSTis. “Providing Music Producers with Tutorials, Help & Advice on Music Production.”